


With You, One Last Time

by ArtForRogue



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 19:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17772650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtForRogue/pseuds/ArtForRogue
Summary: The hearts had led a corny string of messages, all that Keith had heard in some fashion before; kiss me, be mine, adore you, love you, soul mate.Miss you.A short love note from Keith to his husband.





	With You, One Last Time

“Oh, Keith.”

It hurt to do anything at the moment, but Keith managed to crack open an eyelid and immediately regretted it. The being -- whatever they were, angel or demon -- above him was a blinding white. Keith hissed and immediately closed his eyes again. “Shit.”

“ _Keith_. This is bad.”

The moment of impact had stolen all of Keith’s senses, but he had an approximate guess as to what he looked like. His motorcycle was likely torn into two or three pieces at the bottom of the hill with a big chunk of tree, leaving Keith’s broken body about halfway between the road he had veered off and definitely-on-fire-now debris.

Something warm trailed down the side of his head, getting caught halfway in dark, wind-tousled hair. The warmth collected for a moment, then continued down, down, down past Keith’s jacket collar, down past his heart, until it trailed to a place he could no longer feel. The realization drew a shaky gasp from Keith’s lips and he snapped both his eyes open, blinding light be damned.

“Shiro?” He meant for the words to come out a lot stronger than the watery plea they turned into.

The lights were still too bright but Keith knew that voice. He'd know it anywhere. “Keith, you're hurt very badly.” The voice was enough to make Keith want to surge up but the lights fucking _hurt._ Shiro seemed to realize Keith’s discomfort, dimming until the smooth cover of darkness enveloped them. “Is this better?”

“Yes.” Keith licked his lips. “Thank you.” It still took a few seconds before Keith could blink the dancing lights from his eyes, but eventually the figure before him started to take shape against the tall oak trees. “Am I dead?”

The silence that met him, touched so gently by the chirping of crickets and rustling of wind through the grass, was enough to let Keith know. It wouldn’t be long. He asked, quieter, “An angel would take me to heaven, wouldn’t he?”

Shiro's chuckle was soft, like a bell in the breeze. “What do you think?”

Keith couldn’t help his bratty response -- there was no longer any pain to hinder him. “I dunno. I’ve done some shitty things in life. Some good things. Even then, it all hinges on what religion you believe in, doesn’t it?”

That earned another laugh. “Were you helping Pidge with her philosophy homework again?”

“I don’t think I was ever a big help. I couldn’t even quote anything from Descarte right now.” Even if there was no pain racking him, Keith couldn’t bring his body to move and lift his arms like he wanted. He settled for laying there on the grassy hill, warmth surrounding him despite the mud pressed to his naked cheek. “Shiro, don’t tease me about it.”

The being bent and cupped Keith’s face gentlpulledy. Huge, glimmering white wings dragging along the ruined earth as it moved closer. “Is that who I look like to you?”

“Yes.” Keith blinked back tears and continued, slow as he said, “But Shiro would send me to Hell for taking up smoking again.”

“No I wouldn’t.” The barely-contained mirth looked so familiar on Shiro, even though it had been three years since Keith last made him bite back a laugh. It had been some joke about Lance’s bachelor party, Keith thought, and Shiro was trying to be nice and not laugh, but then Keith imitated Lance’s drunken crying about how happy he was, and Shiro _broke._

“What about riding our bike without a helmet?” Keith whispered.

“‘The store’s only a 12 minute ride. This far, this late, no one else is on the road _’_.” Shiro answered, the line recited from heart like it was a quote from his favorite book instead of just Keith being stubborn.  “How many times have I heard that argument?”

“You were always there to keep lookout over my shoulder.” A few tears fell free, down, down, to join the warmth that no longer felt so warm. Neither of them had to touch on Shiro’s age-old excuse to get to sit on the back of the bike, arms tight around Keith’s waist and cheek pressed to his shoulder. “Watch out for anything that might be waiting in the shadows.”

The hand against his cheek pressed up, tilting gently until Keith was laying flat on his back. Through a gap in the trees, he could count the countless stars glittering in the sky.

“Are the raccoons okay?” Keith finally remembered to ask.

“Yeah. They made it across safe and sound. Didn’t even look back.”

“Wow.” They both laughed. “I told you those things didn’t have souls. All the cat food you fed them, and they didn’t even have the courtesy to watch me die. I did them a big favor, not running them over.” Because it would have made Shiro cry, and even though Keith swore up and down that they were pests, the watery gaze reminded him of the hidden intelligence he saw in their dog’s eyes.

If Shiro and Kosmo liked them, maybe they weren’t that bad.

Enough that when Keith saw them out on the road, too late, it had been instinct to try to cut around them.

75 MPH and a poorly placed tree trunk later, here he was.

“What did you need at the store so badly that it couldn’t wait for the morning?” Shiro finally asked, when Keith grew quiet again.

He didn’t bother to think of what angels did and didn’t know. He just answered. “My husband and I have this Valentine’s Day tradition. I had told myself this year, it really wasn’t necessary, but I -- when midnight came close I just --”

It had left an ashy taste in his mouth even worse than a cigarette. The promise of tomorrow’s plans wasn’t enough to keep Keith from throwing on his jacket and tearing down to the general store.

“It wasn’t a waste. Even if they hadn’t had the boxes at the store, I think just going was -- it was what I needed. I got two. Just like always.”

Keith couldn’t pull the boxes from his jacket pocket if he wanted, so there was a small sense of relief when Shiro pulled them out, instead. The boxes were crumbled, but no worse for wear, laughably the most put-together debris from the crash. He listened to Shiro crack open one of the disgustingly pink boxes and rattle around until he found one that wasn’t broken.

“You never liked the chalky ones, did you?”

“Shiro, the fact that you describe them as ‘chalky’ says enough.” Keith let out a deep, content breath as Shiro laughed. “But they’re your favorite. That’s all that matters to me. That’s all that’s ever mattered to me.”

“The business that makes these is going bankrupt, you know. The only reason the general store had them is because these are a few years old.” One of the benefits of living in the middle of nowhere. Shiro rattled through the box until he found another whole heart. He offered it to Keith, pressing it to his lips for him to accept, but not before letting him read the message printed lopsided on it.

“Gross.” Keith chewed. “Is there a green one?”

“Um.” The box in Shiro’s hands was abandoned for the other. It, too, was cracked open with sure fingers, and a green heart held up in victory. Keith ate that one too when Shiro pressed it to his lips. They continued through the boxes until there was just the one piece left.

The hearts had led a corny string of messages, all that Keith had heard in some fashion before; kiss me, be mine, adore you, love you, soul mate.

Miss you.

When the last of the chalky remnants faded, Keith asked, “Have you always been here?”

“Yes.”

“Even when we --”

“ _Especially_ then.” The hint of a laugh in Shiro’s voice was enough to coax a full one from Keith.

“I’m glad you got to --” Keith fought for the words when he found his breath harder to grasp, his body colder, “not that, obviously, but you got to see. When we weren’t being total idiots.”

“...I was afraid you would never smile again.”

“I was, too.”

The ring resting on his chest felt just as heavy as the ring on his finger, some days.

It was a burden neither one of them had ever wanted, but when the doctors reassured them nothing more could be done, certain realities had to be talked about. Even if they were ugly. Even if they hurt. Even if it meant the end.

Even dying, Keith couldn’t find the courage to say those two words.

“You know, we needed a tie-breaking answer for who had the cutest baby.” He said instead, full of fear.

“Mm.” Keith wasn’t even looking at Shiro, yet he still knew he was worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Good to know even as angel, he was allowed to keep his human quirk. “The twins are definitely cuter.”

“Alright, then a tie-breaking answer on which baby will rule the world.”

There was no hesitance in this answer. “Oh, _definitely_ Pidge’s. Let’s just be glad she has Hunk’s kind heart.”

When Allura announced her pregnancy, Shiro and Keith talked about kids. It had always been an untouchable subject between them -- navigated like a rocket ship through an asteroid field -- but something about the joy they felt for Allura and Lance finally broke the silence between them.

Nothing ever came of their talks, though.

Shiro got the news around the same time they had finally found an agency willing to consider them. Callbacks stopped after that.

Shiro had his own hangups about the idea and Keith muted his own excitement to match.

Even with the settlement check from the Garrison, Keith wasn't sure his meager mechanic job was enough to support their family.

And Shiro didn't want to welcome a new life just to leave, abrupt.

Even when nothing about Shiro's sickness was abrupt.

They knew the risks sending him to space and still Keith sent him off with a smile on the day Shiro broke through the atmosphere and kissed the stars.

He held tight and watched as Shiro never quite acclimated to home the same way. How keeping down food was harder and harder and sleep ripped him apart with nightmares he couldn't name and his hair went from black to white in months instead of years and there was a shift in his arm he didn't tell Keith about until too late.

They talked about kids.

The Garrison told them the radiation levels were too high.

They fed each other awful, chalky hearts on Valentine's Day because it was one of the few treats Shiro liked that he could keep down.

And Keith continued to watch as the sickness in Shiro tore him down, broke him into pieces and he tried so hard, _so, so hard_ to be strong and keep a smile but there was never any use hiding the truth from the man he loved.

They talked about kids.

They had finally agreed to name her Luna.

A grating pop snapped both of them out of their nostalgic bubble -- Keith was the first to speak, since he would recognize that sound anywhere. “The engine just exploded, didn’t it?” Thankfully the forest was still damp from this morning’s rain, so the woods wouldn’t burn around him. But it would likely be enough to put away any thoughts of fixing up ‘ol Black.

Not that he would be able to, after this.

Maybe Mom would take the parts. Fix her up.

Keith kept his eyes to the starry sky when Shiro didn’t answer. He counted another fifteen stars before asking, softly, “Are there anymore of those candy hearts left?”

There was soft rustling to his right at the question. After a moment, Shiro’s fingers pressed the last heart to Keith’s lips in offering. Keith let it slide in and chewed, slowly, savouring each last crunch. “Purple.”

“Yeah.” Shiro shook the empty box in confirmation, just out of Keith’s eyesight. “I forgot to look at the message.”

“No, it’s fine.” It wouldn’t have mattered, anyway. “Does that mean it’s time to go?”

When Keith was met with silence, he waited. Patience allowed him a full twenty stars this time. “Shiro?”

For the first time since Keith was rolled onto his back, Shiro leaned into his line of vision. Even after death, Shiro had managed to change -- his hair was an ethereal white and the scar that marred his face looked softer, somehow. He looked healthier than he had been that last year they had together.

The tears were the biggest surprise of all. “Why are you crying, Shiro?”

Shiro wiped at his eyes, but only after a few had managed to fall onto Keith’s cheek. His could see Shiro cradling him in his lap, but oddly enough, there was no feeling there. In lieu of an answer, Shiro bent down and pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss. For a memory three years old, Shiro still felt achingly familiar.

By the time they parted, the warmth had returned to Keith’s limbs and he could feel the chalky taste of the Valentine’s candy on the tip of his tongue. “Becoming an angel has really made your kissing heavenly.” Keith murmured dreamily. He felt more than saw Shiro press his forehead to Keith’s neck, quiet laughter shaking him. Husbands they may be, but even bad jokes could not be forgiven.

“You never complained.” Shiro shot back. He moved to his feet and reached out, offering his hand. Keith was surprised to find he had the energy to lift his arm and take the invitation -- though he was still wobbly by the time Shiro pulled him up. “There you go.”

Keith took one step at a time, grateful that Shiro was willing to work as his grounding support for the time being; his feet like they were turning in empty air. Each additional step pulled them further into the dark of the woods where the trees turned into one long shadow before bursting into the sky as a sea of stars.

He had never seen this many stars before.

He turned his gaze forward, to Shiro leading them, and smiled when he heard the familiar crunch of candy hearts. “Shiro, save some for the meteor shower!” Of course his boyfriend had already broken into the stash -- Keith had felt his hands patting along his jacket pockets the entire ride there.

“What?” Shiro turned his gaze back and grinned, full of vitality and youth, and so, so kissable at that moment. “Sorry, Keith, that better be only sweet nothings you’re saying.”

“Oh, I’ll show you sweet nothings.” Shiro laughed when Keith pushed forward to grab his hand.

As they climbed to their hideaway to watch the death of stars, Keith forgot why he had ever been scared.

He forgot about the hill they left behind.

Instead, he took his boyfriend’s hand and kissed him. He pressed the ring that he had kept close to his heart into the palm of Shiro’s hand and tasted the chalky flavor of Shiro’s love, along with his stuttering gasp of surprise. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry.
> 
> Come tell me to f off on Twitter @ FormSheith


End file.
